JHU Collaborative Projects
Developing a Realistic Bioterrorism Scenario
In collaboration with JHU's School of Public Health, APL is developing a realistic bioterrorism scenario for the University's PACER (Preparedness and Critical Event Response) Program, researching models and simulations associated with propagation, detection, and diagnosis of disease caused by bioterrorist activities.
Pandemic Planning
As a Maryland "critical infrastructure" component for emergency planning, APL collaborated with the JHU Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) in a statewide exercise with Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to evaluate preparedness. The exercise was an opportunity to review the University's pandemic influenza planning and test communications between University divisions and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Blast-Injury Research
A Hopkins-wide team of brain-injury experts, including APL biomedical engineers, is making significant strides in understanding how high-pressure blast waves from explosions affect the brain. The researchers are working to develop better brain-injury detection and treatment methods that would benefit military personnel (particularly U.S. troops in Iraq, where explosive devices account for at least 60% of deaths and more than 70% of injuries).
Tiny Medication Delivery Devices
APL researchers have teamed with the Division of Cardiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital to develop a microscale device for the triggered release of an anticlotting agent. Used in conjunction with an implanted stent, the device releases anticlotting agents into the bloodstream when triggered remotely by a doctor or by an implanted sensory device that detects clots within the artery and releases an acoustic signal that ruptures a membrane covering tiny wells filled with medication.
Stronger Underwater Materials
In a collaborative effort between JHU and APL, stronger materials known as piezoelectric polymer composites are replacing their brittle ceramic counterparts for underwater applications such as highly directional hydrophones. If the technology can be expanded to cover large areas on submarines, these materials can also be used to create sensor and communication arrays for signature control.
Resonant Structures
In collaboration with the JHU Whiting School of Engineering, APL scientists are developing novel three-dimensional structures designed to exhibit resonances and act as sensors and taggants in the terahertz frequency range. The JHU Department of Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering is developing the self-assembled structures. The Terahertz Laboratory in APL’s Milton S. Eisenhower Research Center is providing testing.
Sensors for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
In conjunction with JHU’s electrical and computer engineering program, APL is designing an active acoustic sensor, which works similarly to a bat’s sonar, for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in urban warfare. The sonar could potentially detect small objects, such as power lines, to help the UAV avoid them.
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
APL’s Undersea Warfare Business Area, in partnership with the Whiting School’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, is conducting technical assessments of unmanned underwater vehicle design requirements and developing contributing technologies for underwater communications and radio frequency transmission capabilities. JHU’s technical efforts include navigation and control software development for the vehicles, ocean-bottom communications node design, system integration, and in-water testing.
Internet Architectures
APL and JHU’s Department of Computer Science are investigating clean-slate approaches for inter-domain network routing protocols for a National Science Foundation program called Algorithmic Foundations for Internet Architecture. The effort, which will continue through mid-2010, focused this year on the potential scalability of link-state routing protocols in the context of inter-domain routing via large-scale simulation.
Looking for Signs of Life on Mars
With funding from NASA, APL’s Space Department and JHU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy are jointly developing the MOMA (Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer) laser desorption mass spectrometer, part of a suite of instruments designed to analyze Martian rock, soil, and ice for chemical traces of biological activity on Mars. MOMA is scheduled to launch in 2013 as part of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission, arriving at Mars in 2014.
Environmental Efforts
As part of JHU’s Sustainability Initiative to address environmental concerns, APL is increasing its efforts to make changes that minimize our impact on the environment. APL is represented on the University’s Sustainability Committee and the Task Force on Climate Change, which is creating a new Hopkins climate-change policy. In parallel, the Laboratory’s Environmental Affairs Subcommittee provides a forum for discussing APL’s environmental goals, policies, and challenges while working toward reducing the Laboratory’s carbon footprint. Major successes have been achieved during this past year with regard to recycling, especially of materials from buildings slated for demolition, and new construction projects are incorporating green building practices.